


a place to rest your head

by forever_and_always



Series: where the heart is [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Foster Care, Kid Fic, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Raven Neil Josten, lots of fluff, or is it post-relationship???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:19:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forever_and_always/pseuds/forever_and_always
Summary: Kevin called Neil asking for a favor, and Neil said yes. Now he's face to face with someone he hasn't seen in a very long time.---Or: Neil never went to Palmetto to play with the Foxes. Kevin is the worst. And Andrew hasn't changed a single bit





	a place to rest your head

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just really hormonal and needed soft!Andrew surrounded by children. 
> 
> Shout out to Liz and B for looking over it and to Kim, Anna, and Cam for all the names. I'm terrible with names.

Neil saying yes was just him keeping his end of a deal with Kevin Day. And a deal Kevin made with someone else is what forced him to call Neil to ask for help. From what Neil managed to gather from his conversation with Kevin, one of his former college teammates help run a children’s home. One of the kids wanted to meet a professional Exy player for their birthday, and Kevin agreed to visit. But then Kevin’s young daughter had unexpectedly fallen ill, and he decided the trip would be too difficult to handle while Thea was also traveling. That left Neil, the closest and most available, as the next best option. He did little more than check his training schedule before agreeing to take Kevin’s place. 

Later, Neil wished he would have asked Kevin a few more questions about what he was getting himself into, but maybe it was all for the best in the end. 

 

The address Kevin gave Neil took him to a heavily wooded area outside Columbia, only a few hours east of Atlanta. Acres of land separated each house, and at times Neil thought he saw a hint of a lake through the break in the treeline. The houses along the way had been decently sized, but Neil was surprised by the sight of the group home that met him when he reached the end of the long winding driveway. 

He expected something small and run down from inevitable overuse and eventual neglect. But what he saw was the complete opposite of what came to his mind when he thought of the foster system. The white three story house, large enough to be considered a modest mansion, sat on a slight incline in the middle of a wide clearing, accented by colorful summer flowers in the front lawn. It belonged on the cover of a magazine. Neil parked off to the side near the detached multiple-car garage. A large front porch with two separate bench swings welcomed Neil to the house, and a ribbon of anxiety fluttered in his chest. He could only hope the kids who lived here were as taken care of as the outside of the house. Neil knew far too well how much looks could be deceiving. 

Neil took an extra half second to let the anxiety disappear and thought, instead, about how nice it would be to be able to do his daily morning runs in the surrounding forest instead of the busy streets of the city. He stepped out of his car when he was ready, pulling two full duffles out from the backseat. Right before he left, Neil had the foresight to bring enough exy related merchandise from both teams he played for to outfit a whole youth team of excited exy players. He had to stop himself from also bringing a whole case of racquets, but only because he didn’t know the kids’ preferences for sticks. 

After knocking on the front door, painted a deep shade of red, there was a moment of silence then the muffled sounds of feet hurrying towards the door. A lanky teen opened the door. 

“You’re not Kevin,” he said. His rounded face was set in a stony glare. 

“No, I’m Neil Josten.”

The teen shut the door without another word. Neil was left standing alone outside on a scuffed welcome mat. Confusion began to build when the door was opened again. 

Instead of the kid, Neil was face to face with Andrew Minyard. He face was schooled as blankly as it had been over a decade ago. Nothing had changed. Andrew remained silent, his eyes lazily roaming across Neil’s face and all the way down to the bags in Neil’s hands. 

“Nathaniel,” said Andrew. It wasn’t a question, just stated in a voice unaffected by any emotions. 

Neil didn’t flinch at hearing the name. “Nathaniel died when Riko did, even you should know that.”

The other man’s eyes flicked up to look at Neil directly, and Neil spotted the unfamiliar hint of tiny smile pulling at the corner of Andrew’s lips. But the continued silence made Neil consider the option that he wasn’t welcomed here. His past, for the most part, had been made public years ago, but that meant nothing in terms of Andrew trusting him. He called Kevin needing help, and it seeming likely that he hadn’t informed Andrew of the change of plans. Although, the thought of the two men willingly talking to each other was almost as unbelievable as Andrew working at a group home. Maybe things had changed since they had last seen each other.

“I’m not a threat.”

Andrew’s smile grew a fraction bigger. Neil had yet to sense its manic undertones. “You wouldn’t still be standing if I thought you were.” He took a step back from the door and opened it wide enough for Neil to enter. Andrew stood close in front of Neil obscuring his view deeper into the house. “Leave your shoes and bag there, and come with me.” 

He didn’t wait for Neil to follow. A quick turn off the entry led to a hallway lined with several closed doors and framed pictures covering the rest of the empty space. Most of them featured kids of various ages, but a lot also contained faces Neil recognized in his short time playing collegiate Exy. He always thought the Foxes were a strange group of people, that without Exy would have never been remotely civil around each other, or whatever Kevin still liked to complain about. 

Andrew turned again and came to a stop in a spacious kitchen, the remnants of lunch scattered along the counters. 

“There are rules for strangers in my house,” said Andrew. To an outsider it would look like the blond was leaning casually against the kitchen’s island, Neil knew Andrew better to see the tension in this muscles waiting to spring into motion. 

“Your house?” he responded. 

“Yes, my house.”  

That tiny detail meant Andrew was more involved in the group home than Neil originally thought. And reconciling the Andrew he knew from before and the Andrew who was standing before him now wasn’t too difficult for Neil either, after all Neil wasn’t the only one who had a public past. 

“First, you will not touch any of the kids without their permission first, and even then I strongly suggest you keep your hands to yourself. Second, you will not ask them any personal questions. It’s okay if they talk to you first about something, but they know what they can and cannot say. No pictures of them, no social media post about them, and if you make any one of them uncomfortable in any way, you will be leaving immediately and will not be asked to come back. Do you understand, or do I need to use Exy analogies?”

Neil had no doubt in Andrew’s seriousness. There was already proof of what he would do in order to protect those under his care. “I understand.”

Andrew nodded once, but didn’t make a move to leave. “I can tell you this so you don’t embarrass yourself. Taze won’t talk to anyone so don’t expect him to, and Sarah is pregnant. But don’t expect her to be willing to talk either.” 

Neil nodded too in response, and Andrew tilted his head in the direction of the doorway. The kids were waiting for them in the living room located at the other end of the first floor. The house was currently at full capacity with six children, and Neil noticed they had arranged themselves by age on two soft looking couches, he also saw his duffle bags had been moved into the room but pushed off to the side. They all looked at Neil with a mix of muted expressions, except for the youngest in the room. The kid’s mouth was hung open in wordless surprise and his tiny body was beginning to vibrate with excitement.

“You’re Neil!” the boy practically shouted. The other kids didn’t react to the outburst, clearly used to his energy. Andrew motioned for kid to settle down, and Neil didn’t really know what to do next. He had years to get use to fans wanting his attention but it was a little different when he was so close to them in the same room. Andrew crossed the room to stand where he could watch both Neil and the kids, and he let them introduce themselves, sparing Neil from having to do anything.  

Sarah sat on the far left and was the oldest. She spoke quietly and only said the bare minimum, never releasing her grip from the large pillow on her lap. Next to her was Missy and Cecil. Cecil had been the one to first open the door for Neil, and both looked unhappy to be sitting there. Cecil was more cool and detached but Missy’s anger at the situation burned hot. It reminded Neil of someone else in the room. The second couch held the youngest three kids of the group. Dell seemed excited but shy, the boy next to him looked at Andrew when it was his turn and Andrew informed Neil that he went by the name Taze, and lastly came the youngest. 

“My name’s Levi!” He squirmed his way off his seat almost hitting Taze in the chest with the heavy plaster cast on his arm. Now standing in front of Neil, the boy’s happiness was barely contained. “I think you’re way better than Kevin Day. He’s boring and you’re fun.” Levi sucked in a deep breath. “Can I give you a hug?” 

“Sure.” Neil kneeled down and let Levin cling to his neck. “I’m guessing you were the one who asked to meet an Exy player for their birthday?”

Levi pulled away enough to let his head bob sharply up and down. From the force of his nods, Neil was worried he’d give himself a concussion. “Me and Sarah are the only ones who haven’t met all the Foxes yet but that doesn’t matter because Matt and Kevin are the only ones who play anymore. And you’re better than both of them!” 

Neil was touched by the boy’s words, he liked to think he was better than Kevin too. He carefully detached himself from Levi and stood up to address Andrew. “I brought stuff for Levi and the rest of the kids, is that okay?”

“We’ll take it outside,” said Andrew in return. He told Levi to give Neil some space. “But,” he added, “if you ask nicely, I bet Neil will show you something.” 

Levi started bouncing again while the older kids headed towards the doorway. “Wait,” the boy said suddenly, looking at Andrew. “You forgot about Madelyn.” 

“Who’s Madelyn?” asked Neil. As far as he knew there wasn’t anyone else in the house. 

Dell answered first. “She’s Andrew’s daughter.”

“Yeah,” said Levi. “But she’s not here right now because she’s at piano camp.” 

Next to Dell, Missy scoffed. “If you call spending the summer in Germany studying with the country’s best youth orchestra ‘piano camp’, then sure, she’s at piano camp.”

The kids continued to argue as they walked through the house, leaving Andrew and Neil alone in the living room. Neil raised an eyebrow to ask  _ You have a daughter? _ Andrew mirrored him as if asking back  _ Is it impossible for you to believe that? _ After a moment, Andrew broke the silence but didn’t break eye contact. 

“We should go before Levi breaks his other arm.”

Neil smiled, grabbed his bags, and followed Andrew. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent outside. Neil let the kids pick out anything they wanted which led to Levi wearing jerseys from Neil’s professional team and the US Court at the same time. Even Missy and Cecil begrudgingly thanked him. Someone dragged out a couple racquets, that Neil recognized as Kevin’s prefered brand, and Neil showed them some easy drills after Levi enthusiastically informed him that Missy and Dell played for their school teams, and Andrew was letting him play for a rec league in the spring after his cast came off. Neil could still remember when Andrew was so openly against the sport, even while he played it, but held his tongue from saying anything about it.  

After the drills, Neil and the kids split up for a three on three game that quickly turned into seeing who could tackle Neil the most times. Sarah didn’t participate at all, choosing instead to sit on one of the two porch swings with her head buried in a notebook. Andrew silently watched over all of them. Sometimes he sat beside Sarah and sometimes he sat on the porch steps with his back against the railing. Neil noticed the other man’s eyes tracking after Taze and Dell, and making sure Levi and Missy didn’t get too rough. At one point Cecil stopped mid-stride because he couldn’t catch his breath, and Andrew appeared a second later with an inhaler in hand. Neil wanted to be shocked by his actions, but it was impossible. He was too impressed. 

The kids only stopped when they were bribed with cupcakes. Sarah was even persuaded to come down off the porch to join everyone else sprawled across several blankets on the shaded part of the lawn. They sang Happy Birthday to Levi and dug into the sweets. Neil let himself enjoy the dessert, although he thought the icing was a bit too sweet. When they were done, Neil help Andrew pick up the mess, and let the kids wanting to play Exy continue on without him.  

Andrew settled again on the steps of the porch and didn’t bite when Neil sat next to him. 

“They’re great kids,” said Neil with a smile on his face. “It’s nice they like Exy.” 

The other man didn’t acknowledge Neil had said anything. He kept his head pointed straight ahead, but Neil caught the slow moment of Andrew’s eyes glancing to where Neil had pushed his long sleeves up. 

“Nice arm bands.” 

“Thanks.” Neil didn’t make a move to pull this sleeves down over them. “I know you’re the one who sent them to me.”

The sun was starting to fall in the sky, and Andrew finally tore his eyes away from the kids to look at Neil. 

“I don’t know, that was a long time ago. How can you prove it was me?” Andrew didn’t fix his own sleeves from showing the edges of the matching black bands. 

Neil laughed without meaning to, and Andrew’s face slid from being blank to something softer. They sat together in silence until the shadows on the front lawn grew longer. 

“I need to be going soon,” Neil told Andrew.  _ But I don’t want to go  _ remained stuck in his head. Instead he finished with, “I have practice in the morning. Pre-season’s starting soon.” 

“There’s nothing stopping you from going.” 

Neil could tell Andrew meant something more with words than he was saying. “I should start saying goodbye.” 

Andrew didn’t reply. Neil got up to start his rounds. 

Sarah gave Neil a sad looking smile and thanked him for being so nice to the other kids. Levi held on tightly when Neil said he had to head back to Atlanta and only let go when Neil promised that he would never forget his biggest fan. Dell indicated a fist bump which was followed by ones from Missy and Cecil, still acting like it was too much effort to admit they had fun with Neil. During the other goodbyes, Taze had taken Neil’s vacated spot next to Andrew on the steps. Neil just waved to him and got a small wave in return. 

Before Neil could get too close to his car, Andrew spoke up. 

“Tell Kevin he still owes me.” 

 

Two weeks later Neil returned from his morning run to see a text from a unknown number. 

_ They say they miss you. _

There was only one person it could have been from. 

**how did you get my number**

Neil sent the message then dropped the phone on the couch and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Two new messages were waiting when he was finished. 

_ You should never leave an unlocked phone lying around a house full of nosy teenagers. _

_ I think they’re using you for free stuff. _

**they all miss me? even cecil and missy**

_ Yes. Levi won’t stop asking when you’re coming back. I told him you were busy.  _

It took several tries for Neil to be satisfied with an answer. 

**i’ll see what I can do**

There wasn’t a lot of time left before Neil needed to leave for practice, so he didn’t wait to see if Andrew replied. He threw his phone in his bag so he wouldn’t forget it and hurried through getting dressed and feeding himself and his cats. Hours later Neil receive a single  _ Fine  _ in response, but it wasn’t until Neil was getting ready for bed that he had the urge to send another message to Andrew. 

**what about you**

Andrew’s reply came quicker than he expected.  _ What about me? _

**do you miss me**

_ No. _

_ I hate you.  _

A pleased smile broke out across Neil’s face without his permission. He set his phone down on the nightstand beside his arm bands. And as he drifted off to sleep, Neil thought about when next soonest time he could see Andrew and the kids. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Neil has totally watch every televised second of Andrew Minyard playing Exy mulitple times, and Andrew was totally staring at Neil Josten's lips when he saw him standing on his porch. These boys. Did they ever have a history together??? I guess we'll have to wait and see. 
> 
> I'm planning to turn this into a series and have a few ideas in mind, but if there's anything you might like to see I'd love to hear it. But please let me know what you think! Comments are a girl's best friend. 
> 
> You can find me @moonywaitup on tumblr and feel free to come cry with me.
> 
> Edit- part two is now up!


End file.
